I have recently resumed working through the book A New Course in Reading Pali by JW Gair and WS Karunatillake. Along with listening to the online lectures given by Bhikkhu Bodhi, I think I will gradually be able to understand and remember Pali. One day I hope to be fluent in it.

My question is about this: I used to be into Hinduism, and although I've not seriously practiced that path for a long time - and despite never having properly studied Sanskrit either, I must add - I'm still able to recollect many Sanskrit verses, thanks to the way in which I learned them. (But sadly, despite my attempts at remedying this, I've not had nearly as much success with Pali verses from the Sutta Pitaka thus far). The presentation was like this:

As a blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge burn to ashes all reactions to material activities.

(For some reason there are missing macrons in this version...anyway you get the idea.)

Recently I realised why Sanskrit has stuck in my mind so well, relatively speaking (I mean I hardly ever read or see it, yet much of it is still there). It is because of those word-for-word translations, as in the example above. Has anyone done this with any of the Pali suttas? It would be a wonderful memorisation aid if someone well versed in Pali were to set out the verses of some of the more important suttas in the Pali Canon in such a manner.

I saw a couple of verses in the Abhayagiri newsletter in a "tri-linear translation" (if memory serves). It looked like this:1) pali text2) literal, word by word equivalents3) english text

The second line, by itself, never made much sense. However, the role it played in linking lines 1 and 3 together was very powerful. Unfortunately, I have only seen a couple verses and I don't know where to find more. I posted something about this once before on this forum, but I did not get much response (I will double check once the search function is restored).

Buckwheat wrote:I saw a couple of verses in the Abhayagiri newsletter in a "tri-linear translation" (if memory serves). It looked like this:1) pali text2) literal, word by word equivalents3) english text

The second line, by itself, never made much sense. However, the role it played in linking lines 1 and 3 together was very powerful. Unfortunately, I have only seen a couple verses and I don't know where to find more. I posted something about this once before on this forum, but I did not get much response (I will double check once the search function is restored).

No probs Buckwheat, just let me know, if you wish, when you have more info.

What Makes an Elder? :A head of gray hairs doesn't mean one's an elder. Advanced in years, one's called an old fool.But one in whom there is truth, restraint, rectitude, gentleness,self-control, he's called an elder, his impurities disgorged, enlightened.-Dhammpada, 19, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

Thanks Ron, I did know about that one but yes it is indeed very helpful, and has helped me quite a lot already. My only problem is that sometimes I don't know the correct form of a word I have seen in the suttas, and I get that message "your search resulted in 0 results" lol. But I'm gradually learning how to discern the correct, look-up-able form of the pali words.

Thanks Ron, I did know about that one but yes it is indeed very helpful, and has helped me quite a lot already. My only problem is that sometimes I don't know the correct form of a word I have seen in the suttas, and I get that message "your search resulted in 0 results" lol. But I'm gradually learning how to discern the correct, look-up-able form of the pali words. :anjali:

Click on any word in the canon to get (multiple) translations/meanings, grammar tables.Comes with learning aids different vocab, noun and verb (quiz), multiple dictionaries (including the above mentioned),sanskrit also, root search, texts linked to access2insight and on, and on ;-).It's like the swiss knife of all computersoftware pāḷi tools I have seen so far.

It's me again and I've got another one on vocab learning. It's a bit off topic, I know, but I think it still fits in here.

You can do it on your own with cards and Mnemonic. If you're computer hooked, try memrise.It's still free for a year or so and then they want to make it both, paid and free.Still, one can create his/her/it's own training course on any theme.

There is also "Pali Buddhist Texts: An Introductory Reader and Grammar", by Rune E.A. Johansson (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/pali.html#johansson). I bought it secondhand from Amazon, it's interesting and seems well researched (but then again I have no knowledge whatsoever of Pali).